Participants in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging aged 60 and older were examined to detect changes in psychological, neurological, and neuropsychological tests related to early signs of Alzheimer's disease. After controlling for age and WAIS Vocabulary, the Benton Visual Retention (BVR) test accounted for 5% of the variance in subsequent scores on the cognitive impairment assessed by the Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) 6-15 years later. The correlations between the BVR and MMSE over 6-8 and 9-15 years were .36 and .34 (p < .05). In addition, a battery of memory and reaction time tests consisting of five continuous performance tasks and tests of immediate and short-delayed memory tasks for words and numbers (MRT) accounted for 14% of MMSE variance 6-8 years later. These results provide preliminary evidence that mental status can be predicted, at least in part, by earlier performance on cognitive tests.